Supporting Your Fertility & Hormones with Breathwork

“Take a few deep breaths”

I’m sure someone has said that to you at some point in you life and there’s a reason for it.

How we’re breathing lets us know whether or not we are feeling stressed. The more tense and upset we are, the more shallow our breath becomes. Most of us are going about our day breathing very shallow with a tense body. Most of the time we don’t even notice our breathing, the rise and fall of our chest.

Breath-work, also known as Pranayama - helps to free the breath, clear the mind, and lets the body know it’s actually okay to relax. It’s an incredible tool for processing emotions and releasing.

How can it help your fertility and hormones?

It all starts with your nervous system.

The respiratory system is the only system of the autonomic nervous system (which regulates our stress response) that we can actually consciously control.

This means that through our breath, we can help our body regulate it's response to stress.

As I mentioned in a previous post, stress has a huge impact on your fertility and hormonal health. Managing your cortisol levels and keeping your body in rest and digest allows for optimal body function.

Here a few simple breathing exercises to get you started. To see the best results repeat these exercises daily.

4-7-8 Breathing

Sitting in a comfortable position with your spine straight and hands placed comfortably. Inhale deeply for four seconds, hold your breath for seven seconds, and exhale for 8 seconds.

Alternate Nostril Breathing

Sitting in a comfortable position with your spine straight, bring your right hand towards your face and use your thumb to close the right nostril, and the ring finger to close the left nostril.

Slowly close one nostril, as you deeply inhale a full breath through the open nostril. Then close the opposite nostril and deeply and slowly, exhale bring your belly button inwards towards your spine.

Continue doing this for 5 -10 cycles.

Alternate nostril breathing helps to calm the mind, reduce stress, supports respiratory function, and helps to balance the left and right hemispheres in the brain.

Breath Rhythm to Regulate The Menstrual Cycle from I am Woman by Yogi Bhajan

Sitting in a comfortable position with your spine straight, place your wrist on your knees with your elbows straight and palms facing up.

Inhale through the nose in a four-part breath.

Press the index finger to the thumb on the first inhale, as you mentally vibrate SAA.

Press the middle finder to the thumb on the second inhale, as you mentally vibrate TAA.

Press the ring finger to the thumb on the third inhale, as you mentally vibrate NAA.

Press the pinky finger to the thumb on the fourth inhale, as you mentally vibrate MAA.